Are Americans More Altruistic than the Japanese? A U.S.-Japan Comparison of Saving and Bequest Motives

This paper analyzes a variety of data on saving motives, bequest motives, and bequest division from a U.S.-Japan survey conducted in 1996 by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and finds (1) that the selfish life cycle model is the dominant model of household behavior in both countries but that in is far more applicable in Japan, (2) that the altruism model is far more applicable in the U.S. but that it is not the dominant model of household behavior in either country, and (3) that the dynasty model is more applicable in Japan but that it is of only limited applicability even in Japan. [D12, D91, E21]